Brentwood College School


Brentwood College School is a co-educational boarding school that focuses on preparing students for the challenges of post-secondary education. Brentwood is located on Vancouver Island in Mill Bay, British Columbia, Canada.

History

Brentwood was first founded in 1923. The original location was in Brentwood Bay near Saanich on Vancouver Island, from where its name was derived. The original school was destroyed by a fire in 1947, leaving only the chapel intact. The current school is located westward directly across the bay from the original site, in Mill Bay. The new version of the school opened in September 1961. In 1972, Brentwood College became the first all-boys boarding school in Canada to gradually integrate girls, starting with 20 grade 12 students, becoming officially co-ed for the fall session.

Campus

Brentwood's 77-acre oceanfront campus has a dozen tennis courts, four rugby fields, eight student residences, two academic buildings, a rowing boathouse, laundry facilities, a cafeteria, a sportsplex, and a health centre while stretching across two kilometres of ocean shores.

Sustainable buildings

Brentwood's sustainable building use a geothermal loop for heating and cooling as part of the school's commitment to sustainable energy.

T. Gil Bunch Centre

In 2003, the T. Gil Bunch Centre was built. This facility includes a 431-seat theatre, dance studio, media arts room, green room, four dressing rooms, and other production related spaces as well as a music suite.

Art and Mary Jane Crooks Hall

In 2010, Crooks Hall was built featuring an oceanfront dining room and student services centre that seats 350 people at rectangular tables. The table layout optimizes space, accommodating staggered breakfasts and dinners as well as lunches for more than 430 people in 25 minutes. Crooks Hall also houses The Saville Centre for Business and Entrepreneurship, School Store, and Laundry and Mail Services. This sustainable facility has been designed to meet Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design standards and practices have also been taught to the students in order to assist the faculty in consuming less water and electricity.

Centre for Arts and Humanities

In 2012, Brentwood added a new facility to house the school's fine arts programs and humanities courses. This building is 30,000 sq. ft., located on Brentwood's oceanfront, and houses 16,000 sq.ft. of visual arts studios, two digital media studios, and a 25' high entrance leading into a long corridor art gallery. This structure is also part of Brentwood's sustainability plan and integrates many green management facilities.

Curriculum

Brentwood offers university preparatory education from grade 9 to 12. Brentwood has been ranked consistently as one of the top academic high schools in British Columbia. Students participate in Brentwood's tripartite program. All graduates attend post-secondary education. The most popular countries for post-secondary education are Canada, Scotland, England, and the United States. Brentwood's 2015 graduates received offers from over 138 universities with 678 offers of admission, including Oxford University, Duke University, Brown University, Colgate University, Queen's University, University of Victoria, University of British Columbia, and University of St Andrews.
Students can take British Columbia provincial examinations, Advanced Placement exams, courses and the American SAT prep tutorials.

Extracurricular activities, clubs, and organizations

Currently, the school offers bursaries, financial aid, and The Governor's Entrance Scholarship to eligible Canadian students. Approximately 20% of students receive some type of financial assistance.

Athletics

Highlights

Brentwood College has been continuing to gain a sound reputation in the rowing world. Brentwood College graduates include 2008 Beijing Olympic medalists Scott Frandsen, Dave Calder in the Men's Heavyweight 2- event, and Malcolm Howard in the Men's Heavyweight 8+ event.
Brentwood has hosted its own regatta annually since the early 1970s, inviting high schools and junior clubs across Canada and the United States to participate in a 1,500 metre sprint. The regatta is held every year in April for three days. The Brentwood regatta is a large high school rowing regatta, attracting over 1,500 athletes and coaches in 2009.

Notable alumni

The following Olympic athletes attended Brentwood College.
NameGraduation YearSportCompetition Years
Ned Pratt1930Rowing1932
Bruce Fordleft in 1970Rowing1980–1988
Jim Henniger1973Rowing1974–1976
Marius Felix1977Rowing1979–1980
Sarah Ogilvie1977Rowing1988
Ian Roberts1977Equestrian2004
Paul Tessier1977Rowing1984
Pat Walter1977Rowing1979–1988
Blair Horn1979Rowing1983–1984
Harold Backer1980Rowing1980–1992
Tim Christian1980Rowing1984
David Ross1981Rowing1983–1988
Tan Barkley1983Rowing1984
Jamie Shafer1983Rowing1986–1988
Darren Barber1987Rowing1991–2004
Jennifer Browett1990Rowing1994–1999
Morgan Crooks1994Rowing1997–2000
David Calder1996Rowing1997-ongoing
Tom Herschmiller1996Rowing1998–2004
Kevin White1996Rowing1999–2000
Scott Frandsen1998Rowing2002-ongoing
Connor Grimes2001Field Hockey2002-ongoing
Malcolm Howard2001Rowing2004-ongoing

Medals won: